Stephen Harper takes aim at temporary foreign worker program

Echoes opposition complaints about ‘blatant’ abuse of program

B.C., including the farm sector, is a heavy user of temporary foreign workers.

Photograph by: Ian Smith
, Vancouver Sun

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who has presided over a record increase in the use of temporary foreign labourers in Canada, has slammed the program because of “blatant” abuses and exploitation.

“I’m not saying all companies did this … but we have seen very blatant examples of companies using this in ways that were not in the interest of Canadians,” he told members of Vancouver’s ethnic media.

The scathing critique was made last week. A recording of the meeting was provided this week to 24 Hours Vancouver.

Harper’s criticism of the temporary foreign worker program, prompted a sharp rebuke from Opposition leader Tom Mulcair. Mulcair’s NDP and the labour movement have long had similar complaints about the program.

“Every single time I have raised these exact concerns with the Conservative government, the prime minister denied there were any problems with this program,” Mulcair told The Vancouver Sun. “And now, during a secret meeting, we see him attempt to adopt NDP positions? If Stephen Harper is going to steal our ideas, he should at least do it in public.

“And, if he has truly changed his mind on temporary foreign workers, he should apologize to all those who have been hurt by this program.”

The B.C. business community is one of the most aggressive users of the program, and labour groups and human rights advocates have criticized the provincial government for not adequately protecting the rights of those workers.

Harper sounded frustrated and even angry in the audio recording as he discussed how some Canadian companies and sectors have used temporary foreign workers.

He even echoed the NDP’s argument that more emphasis should be placed on bringing in permanent residents who would have equal rights with Canadians, including the right to bargain collectively.

While the federal government has been conducting a review of the program, and has announced some changes, there has been no indication Ottawa plans to sharply reduce the intake of temporary migrants in favour of permanent residents.

Harper didn’t name names, though he appeared to be referring to a number of high-profile instances of apparent program abuse. He told the ethnic media reporters that the temporary foreign worker program has “grown very dramatically” over the past 15 years as bureaucrats adapted to the private sector’s requests.

“But what did we see?” Harper said. “We saw numerous examples of abuse of this program, outright abuse — companies importing workers for the sole purpose of paying less than the prevailing wage, companies importing workers for the purpose of permanently moving the jobs offshore to other countries, companies bringing in foreign workforces with the intention of never having them permanent, and moving the whole workforce back to another country at the end of the job.”

While stressing that not all companies abuse the system, those that do are engaging in “blatant” violations, he said.

“I’m a big supporter of business, I’m a Conservative, I’m a market-oriented guy — but government was assisting these companies to work around the marketplace in a way that disadvantaged Canadian workers only for the sake of the bottom line profit.”

Harper noted that “certainly” in some parts of Western Canada and particularly Alberta companies “absolutely” require temporary workers.

“But there must be plans for companies to transition to permanent workforces, and what I say is, if you really need temporary workers permanently then that means we need permanent workers who become Canadian and they have a right to stay here and they have a right to bargain with their employer and they have a right to be treated fairly and not just sent back to where they came from the first time they don’t like something.”

The federal government launched a review of the temporary foreign program after media reported in 2012 a number of controversial uses of the program, including one instance of Chinese-owned companies bringing in Chinese nationals to work in B.C. coal mines.

The number of temporary workers entering Canada has soared from 122,365 in 2005, the year before Harper became prime minister, to a record 213,573 in 2012. Combined with those still in Canada last year, the total reached 491,547 last year, also a record.

B.C. takes a disproportionately large share of the temporary workers, with just under 50,000 arriving in 2012 — or close to a quarter of the national total even though B.C. only has about 13 per cent of the national population.

A spokesman for Immigration Minister Chris Alexander said in December that the federal government’s review looks at potential changes to “make sure it complements, and doesn’t undercut, the recruitment of Canadian citizens and permanent residents … while taking into account the needs of Canadian employers.”

One the changes the Harper government has already made is to reverse an earlier decision to allow companies to pay temporary foreign workers 15 per cent below prevailing rates in the regions where they were working.

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